AlphaQuest LLC Buys 1,340 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in MSCI Inc by 43.9% during the first quarter, holding 4,393 shares valued at approximately $2.48 million.
• MSCI's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $4.17, surpassing estimates, with a 9.1% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.3%, with an ex-dividend date set for August 15th.

AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 43.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,393 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $2,484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 136.4% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its position in MSCI by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 293.8% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 84 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $548.69 per share, with a total value of $46,089.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,951 shares in the company, valued at $702,296,314.19. This represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $654.73.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $0.42 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $571.02. 95,269 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 600,011. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $486.73 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.29. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $564.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $560.16.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%.The business had revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.64 EPS. MSCI's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. MSCI's payout ratio is 47.68%.

MSCI Profile

MSCI Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides critical decision support tools and solutions for the investment community to manage investment processes worldwide. The Index segment provides indexes for use in various areas of the investment process, including indexed financial product, such as ETFs, mutual funds, annuities, futures, options, structured products, and over-the-counter derivatives; performance benchmarking; portfolio construction and rebalancing; and asset allocation, as well as licenses GICS and GICS Direct.